The PB2Y Coronado is a large
flying boat
A flying boat is a type of seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in having a fuselage that is purpose-designed for flotation, while floatplanes rely on fuselage-mounted floats for buoyancy.
Though ...
patrol bomber
A maritime patrol aircraft (MPA), also known as a patrol aircraft, maritime reconnaissance aircraft, maritime surveillance aircraft, or by the older American term patrol bomber, is a fixed-wing aircraft designed to operate for long durations over ...
designed by
Consolidated Aircraft
The Consolidated Aircraft Corporation was founded in 1923 in aviation, 1923 by Reuben H. Fleet in Buffalo, New York, the result of the Gallaudet Aircraft Company's liquidation and Fleet's purchase of designs from the Dayton-Wright Company as the ...
, and used by the US Navy during World War II in bombing, antisubmarine, medical/hospital plane, and transport roles. Obsolete by the end of the war, Coronados were quickly taken out of service. Only one known example remains, at the
National Naval Aviation Museum
The National Naval Aviation Museum, formerly known as the National Museum of Naval Aviation and the Naval Aviation Museum, is a military and aerospace museum located at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida.
Founded in 1962 and moved to its cur ...
at
Naval Air Station Pensacola
Naval Air Station Pensacola or NAS Pensacola (formerly NAS/KNAS until changed circa 1970 to allow Nassau International Airport, now Lynden Pindling International Airport, to have IATA code NAS), "The Cradle of Naval Aviation", is a United Sta ...
, Florida. Before WW2 large flying boats were important for long distance international routes, as the ability to land on water without a land-based airstrip was useful. It proved to be good supporting aircraft in the Pacific War, which often required transport across long distance of oceans in harm's way, to places with no prepared airstrips.
There were two main configurations, one with several turrets including a prominent ball turret in the nose with two 50-cal machine guns, and one unarmed, with a clean nose.
The aircraft had a unique place in history, bringing Admiral
Nimitz to
Tokyo Bay
is a bay located in the southern Kantō region of Japan spanning the coasts of Tokyo, Kanagawa Prefecture, and Chiba Prefecture, on the southern coast of the island of Honshu. Tokyo Bay is connected to the Pacific Ocean by the Uraga Channel. Th ...
for the signing of the
Japanese surrender
The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally signed on 2 September 1945, ending the war. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) was incapable of condu ...
for WW2. Also, after the war one was used by
Hughes Aviation.
Design and development

After deliveries of the
PBY Catalina
The Consolidated Model 28, more commonly known as the PBY Catalina (U.S. Navy designation), is a flying boat and amphibious aircraft designed by Consolidated Aircraft in the 1930s and 1940s. In U.S. Army service, it was designated as the O ...
, also a Consolidated aircraft, began in 1935, the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...
began planning for the next generation of patrol bombers. Orders for two prototypes, the XPB2Y-1 and the
Sikorsky XPBS-1, were placed in 1936; the prototype Coronado first flew in December 1937.
After trials with the XPB2Y-1 prototype revealed some stability issues, the design was finalized as the PB2Y-2, with a large
cantilever
A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is unsupported at one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a cantilev ...
wing,
twin tail
A twin tail is a type of vertical stabilizer arrangement found on the empennage of some aircraft. Two vertical stabilizers—often smaller on their own than a single conventional tail would be—are mounted at the outside of the aircraft's ho ...
with very marked dihedral, and four
Pratt & Whitney R-1830
The Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp is an American air-cooled radial aircraft engine. It has 14 cylinders, arranged in two rings of seven. It displaces and its bore and stroke are both . The design traces its history to 1929 experiments a ...
radial engine
The radial engine is a reciprocating engine, reciprocating type internal combustion engine, internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinder (engine), cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. ...
s. The two inner engines were fitted with four-bladed
reversible pitch propeller
A propeller (often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon a working flu ...
s; the outer engines had standard three-bladed feathering props.
Like the PBY Catalina before it, the PB2Y's wingtip
floats retracted to reduce
drag
Drag or The Drag may refer to:
Places
* Drag, Norway, a village in Tysfjord municipality, Nordland, Norway
* ''Drág'', the Hungarian name for Dragu Commune in Sălaj County, Romania
* Drag (Austin, Texas), the portion of Guadalupe Street a ...
and increase range, with the floats' buoyant hulls acting as the wingtips when retracted. The price of the PB2Y-2 was US$300,000, or approximately three times that of the PBY Catalina.
[Burney 2015, pp. 82–87.]
Development continued throughout the war. The PB2Y-3, featuring
self-sealing fuel tank
A self-sealing fuel tank (SSFT) is a type of fuel tank, typically used in aircraft fuel tanks or fuel bladders, that prevents them from leaking fuel and igniting after being damaged.
Typical self-sealing tanks have layers of rubber and reinfor ...
s and additional armor, entered service just after the
attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Empire of Japan on the United States Pacific Fleet at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, its naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu, Territory of ...
and formed most of the early-war Coronado fleet. The prototype XPB2Y-4 was powered by four
Wright R-2600
The Wright R-2600 Cyclone 14 (also called Twin Cyclone) is an American radial engine developed by Curtiss-Wright, and widely used in aircraft in the 1930s and 1940s.
History
In 1935, Curtiss-Wright began work on a more powerful version of thei ...
radials and offered improved performance, but the increases were not enough to justify a full fleet update. However, most PB2Y-3 models were converted to the PB2Y-5 standard, with the R-1830 engines replaced with single-stage R-1830-92 models. As most existing PB2Y-3s were used as transports, flying low to avoid combat, removing the excess weight of unneeded
supercharger
In an internal combustion engine, a supercharger compresses the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to produce more power for a given displacement (engine), displacement. It is a form of forced induction that is mechanically ...
s allowed an increased payload without harming low-altitude performance.
A prototype of the
Consolidated XPB3Y variant was ordered, which would be a long range version of the Coronado, but this was cancelled.
Operational history
Coronados served in combat in the
Pacific
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...
with the United States Navy, in both bombing and antisubmarine roles. PB2Y-5 Coronados carried out four bombing raids on
Wake Island
Wake Island (), also known as Wake Atoll, is a coral atoll in the Micronesia subregion of the Pacific Ocean. The atoll is composed of three islets – Wake, Wilkes, and Peale Islands – surrounding a lagoon encircled by a coral reef. The neare ...
between
30 January and 9 February 1944.
However, most served as transport and hospital aircraft, and additional tasks included executive transport and search and rescue.
The British
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...
Coastal Command
RAF Coastal Command was a formation within the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was founded in 1936, when the RAF was restructured into Fighter, Bomber and Coastal commands and played an important role during the Second World War. Maritime Aviation ...
had hoped to use the Coronado as a maritime patrol bomber, as it already used the PBY Catalina. However, the range of the Coronado (1,070 miles) compared poorly with the Catalina (2,520 mi), and the
Short Sunderland
The Short S.25 Sunderland is a British flying boat Maritime patrol aircraft, patrol bomber, developed and constructed by Short Brothers for the Royal Air Force (RAF). The aircraft took its service name from the town (latterly, city) and port of ...
(1,780 mi). Consequently, the Coronados supplied to the RAF under
Lend-Lease
Lend-Lease, formally the Lend-Lease Act and introduced as An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States (),3,000 Hurricanes and >4,000 other aircraft)
* 28 naval vessels:
** 1 Battleship. (HMS Royal Sovereign (05), HMS Royal Sovereign)
* ...
were outfitted purely as transports, serving with
RAF Transport Command
RAF Transport Command was a Royal Air Force command that controlled all transport aircraft of the RAF. It was established on 25 March 1943 by the renaming of the RAF Ferry Command, and was subsequently renamed RAF Air Support Command in 19 ...
. The 10 aircraft were used for
transatlantic flight
A transatlantic flight is the flight of an aircraft across the Atlantic Ocean from Europe, Africa, South Asia, or the Middle East to North America, South America, or ''vice versa''. Such flights have been made by fixed-wing aircraft, airships, bal ...
s, staging through the RAF base at
Darrell's Island, Bermuda
Darrell's Island is a small island within the Great Sound of Bermuda. It lies in the southeast of the sound, and is in the north of Warwick Parish. The island is owned by the Bermuda Government.
Early history
The 1621 version of Richard No ...
, and Puerto Rico, though the aircraft were used to deliver vital cargo and equipment in a transportation network that stretched down both sides of the Atlantic, from
Newfoundland
Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...
, to
Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
, and to
Nigeria
Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...
, and other parts of Africa. After the war ended five of the RAF aircraft were scrapped, one was already lost in collision with a
Martin PBM Mariner
The Martin PBM Mariner is a twin-engine American Maritime patrol aircraft, patrol bomber flying boat of World War II and the early Cold War era. It was designed to complement the Consolidated PBY Catalina and Consolidated PB2Y Coronado, PB2Y C ...
and the last four were scuttled off the coast of Bermuda in 1946.

In combat missions PB2Y claimed five enemy aircraft shot down over the course of WW2. Likewise, an example of one lost to combat is at Kerema Rhetto, Okinawa, 5 May 1945. An example of a search and rescue mission is that a PB2Y landed hard on water of Kagoshima Bay to rescue a downed pilot. Unable to takeoff again, a
PBM Mariner
The Martin PBM Mariner is a twin-engine American patrol bomber flying boat of World War II and the early Cold War era. It was designed to complement the Consolidated PBY Catalina and PB2Y Coronado in service. A total of 1,366 PBMs were built ...
picked up the crew and pilot, then scuttled the aircraft with a strafe.
Coronados served as a major component in the
Naval Air Transport Service
The Naval Air Transport Service or NATS, was a branch of the United States Navy from 1941 to 1948. At its height during World War II, NATS's totaled four wings of 18 squadrons that operated 540 aircraft with 26,000 personnel assigned.
Formation ...
(NATS) during World War II in the Pacific theater. Most had originally been acquired as combat patrol aircraft, but the limitations noted above quickly relegated them to transport service in the American naval air fleet also. By the end of World War II, the Coronado was outmoded as both a bomber and a transport, and virtually all of them were quickly scrapped by the summer of 1946, being melted down to aluminum ingots and sold as metal scrap, or used as targets for fighter gunnery practice.
After the war some were used for civilian service; one is reportedly bought by
Howard Hughes
Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American Aerospace engineering, aerospace engineer, business magnate, film producer, and investor. He was The World's Billionaires, one of the richest and most influential peo ...
to practice water landings for the 1947 flight of the Hughes
Spruce Goose
The Hughes H-4 Hercules (commonly known as the ''Spruce Goose''; registration NX37602) is a prototype strategic airlift flying boat designed and built by the Hughes Aircraft Company. Intended as a transatlantic flight transport for use durin ...
.
Variants

The bulk of the production was the PB2Y-3, with 210 produced it featured turrets. Significant numbers of unarmed transport version were also produced or converted from existing versions.
;Coronado I
:RAF Designation for PB2Y-3
;XPB2Y-1
:Prototype with four
Pratt & Whitney XR-1830-72 Twin Wasps, engines, one built.
;PB2Y-2
:Evaluation variant with four
Pratt & Whitney R-1830-78 Twin Wasp engines, modified hull and six guns, six built.
;XPB2Y-3
:One PB2Y-2 converted as prototype for PB2Y-3.
;PB2Y-3
:Production variant with four
Pratt & Whitney R-1830-88 Twin Wasp engines and eight guns, 210 built.
;PB2Y-3B
:Lend-lease designation for Royal Air Force aircraft.
;PB2Y-3R
:PB2Y-3s converted by
Rohr Aircraft Corp
Rohr, Inc. is an aerospace manufacturing company based in Chula Vista, California, south of San Diego. It is a wholly owned unit of the Collins Aerospace division of RTX Corporation; it was founded in 1940 by Frederick H. Rohr as Rohr Aircraft ...
as freighters with faired-over turrets, side loading hatch, and seating for 44 passengers, 31 built.
;XPB2Y-4
:One PB2Y-2 re-engined with four
Wright R-2600 Cyclone 14 engines.
;XPB2Y-5
:The XP2BY-3 converted as PB2Y-5 prototype.
;PB2Y-5
:PB2Y-3s converted with four
Pratt & Whitney R-1830-92 Twin Wasp engines, increased fuel capacity and provision for
RATOG (rocket-assisted take-off gear).
;PB2Y-5R
:PB2Y-5s converted as unarmed transports, some fitted for medical evacuation role. The medical evacuation version could hold up to 25 stretchers.
Operators

The main operator was the United States Navy, and some served with the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force. 5 served with United States Coast Guard. After the war there was some civilian use also.
;
*
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...
**
No. 231 Squadron RAF
;
*
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...
**
FAW-2
**
FAW-3
**
FAW-5
**
FAW-14
**
VPB-1
VPB-1 was a Patrol Bombing Squadron of the U.S. Navy. The squadron was established as Patrol Squadron 1 (VP-1) on 15 April 1943, redesignated as Patrol Bombing Squadron 1 (VPB-1) on 1 October 1944 and disestablished 6 March 1945.
Operational hi ...
**
VPB-4
VPB-4 was a Patrol Bombing Squadron of the U.S. Navy. The squadron was established as Patrol Squadron 102 (VP-102) on 1 March 1943, redesignated Patrol Bombing Squadron 4 (VPB-4) on 1 October 1944 and disestablished on 1 November 1945.
Operatio ...
**
VPB-13
VPB-13 was a patrol bombing squadron of the U.S. Navy. The squadron was established as Patrol Squadron 13 (VP-13) on 1 July 1940, redesignated Patrol Bombing Squadron 13 (VPB-13) on 1 October 1944 and disestablished on 1 December 1945.
Operati ...
**
VPB-15
VPB-15 was a Patrol Bombing Squadron of the U.S. Navy. The squadron was established as Patrol Squadron 15 (VP-15) on 15 March 1943, redesignated Patrol Bombing Squadron 15 (VPB-15) on 1 October 1944 and disestablished on 23 November 1945.
Oper ...
**
VPB-100
VPB-100 was a Patrol Bombing Squadron of the U.S. Navy. The squadron was established as Patrol Squadron 100 (VP-100) on 1 April 1944, redesignated Patrol Bombing Squadron 100 (VPB-100) on 1 October 1944 and disestablished on 15 December 1945.
O ...
**
VP-102
VP-102 was a Patrol Squadron of the U.S. Navy. It was established as VP-18 on 1 September 1937, redesignated as VP-13 on 1 July 1939, redesignated as VP-26 on 11 December 1939, redesignated as VP-102 on 16 December 1940 and disestablished on 18 Ap ...
**
VR-2
**
VR-6
**
VR-8
**
VE-1
**
VH-1
VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Yor ...
* United States Coast Guard
Wrecks

There were many accidents with the PB2Y incidents of different types.
There is a sunken PB2Y Coronado in Tanapag Lagoon of
Saipan
Saipan () is the largest island and capital of the Northern Mariana Islands, an unincorporated Territories of the United States, territory of the United States in the western Pacific Ocean. According to 2020 estimates by the United States Cens ...
. This wreck has been studied for
marine archeology
Maritime archaeology (also known as marine archaeology) is a discipline within archaeology as a whole that specifically studies human interaction with the sea, lakes and rivers through the study of associated physical remains, be they vessels, sh ...
.
After the capture of
Ebeye
Ebeye ( ; Marshallese: , or in older orthography, ; locally, , , after the English pronunciation) is the most populous island of Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, and the second most populated island in the Marshall Islands. It is a cen ...
from the Japanese, it was used as seaplane stopover for flying boats transiting the Pacific. At least three Coronados crashed near Naval Air Base Ebeye Island, at Kwajalein Atoll.
* 14 September 1944, a PB2Y-3 broke apart during practice landings, killing one person.
* 12 February 1945, a PB2Y-5R crashed on landing from a trip from Honolulu, ripping off the nose and sinking claiming two lives.
* Also, in February 1944 a PB2Y ran into a reef while taxiing and subsequently broke up and sank in the lagoon.
Some of these wrecks were discovered in the early 21st century and in some cases are visited by divers.
Additional examples:
On 6 May 1942, a PB2Y crashed crashed and sank in
Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Rec ...
during an emergency landing, claiming the lives of two.
On 27 December 1942 one crashed landing on the
Salton Sea
The Salton Sea is a shallow, landlocked, highly salinity, saline endorheic lake in Riverside County, California, Riverside and Imperial County, California, Imperial counties in Southern California. It lies on the San Andreas Fault within the S ...
, killing 6.
On 21 May 1943 one crashed with the loss of all crew at Little Creek, Virginia, USA.
23 May 1943 a PB2Y ran out of fuel near Bermuda; on landing the right pontoon ripped off and the aircraft rolled over and sank.
24 May 1943 a PB2Y broke in two when it was forced to land on the ground at San Mieuel Rea, Mexico.
On 26 November 1943 a PB2Y crashed while landing during a training flight at
NAS Alameda
Naval Air Station Alameda (NAS Alameda) was a United States Navy Naval Air Station mostly in Alameda, California, with a slight portion of it within San Francisco proper, on San Francisco Bay.
NAS Alameda had two runways: 13–31 measuring and ...
, USA.
1 January 1944 nine perished in a crash in the
Great Sound of Bermuda and another crash at Bermuda occurred on 26 May 1943.
On 17 February 1944 a PB2Y engine failed during takeoff, causing it to crash into a barracks, killing 2 on the ground and 7 of 12 on the aircraft.
Galapagos, Ecuador, 17 July 1944 landing accident (nosing over) kills five.
31 July 1944, on takeoff from
Funafuti
Funafuti is an atoll, comprising numerous islets, that serves as the capital of Tuvalu. As of the 2017 census, it has a population of 6,320 people. More people live in Funafuti than the rest of Tuvalu combined, with it containing approximately 6 ...
Lagoon a wing clips a ship's
jackstaff
A jack staff (also spelled as jackstaff) is a small vertical spar (pole) on the bow of a ship or smaller vessel on which a particular type of flag
A flag is a piece of textile, fabric (most often rectangular) with distinctive colours an ...
causing a crash, killing 22.
On 17 October 1944 one crashed into a
Coronado Island
Coronado (Spanish for "Crowned") is a resort city in San Diego County, California, United States, across San Diego Bay from downtown San Diego. It was founded in the 1880s and incorporated in 1890. Its population was 20,192 in 2020.
Coronado ...
near San Diego, California.
On 6 December 1945 a PB2Y-5R (no. 7241) crashed at Canton island.
On 22 June 1945, a PB2Y landed at sea on a flight between Ebeye and Saipan. All were rescued but the aircraft later sank.
Surviving aircraft
* BuNo 7099 –
National Naval Aviation Museum
The National Naval Aviation Museum, formerly known as the National Museum of Naval Aviation and the Naval Aviation Museum, is a military and aerospace museum located at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida.
Founded in 1962 and moved to its cur ...
,
Naval Air Station Pensacola
Naval Air Station Pensacola or NAS Pensacola (formerly NAS/KNAS until changed circa 1970 to allow Nassau International Airport, now Lynden Pindling International Airport, to have IATA code NAS), "The Cradle of Naval Aviation", is a United Sta ...
,
Pensacola, Florida
Pensacola ( ) is a city in the Florida panhandle in the United States. It is the county seat and only incorporated city, city in Escambia County, Florida, Escambia County. The population was 54,312 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...
Specifications (PB2Y-5)
In popular culture
Victor Bergeron
Trader Vic's is a restaurant and tiki bar chain headquartered in Emeryville, California, United States. Victor Jules Bergeron, Jr. (December 10, 1902 in San Francisco – October 11, 1984 in Hillsborough, California) founded a chain of Polynesia ...
created a
PB2Y cocktail for his
Tiki bar
A tiki bar is a themed drinking establishment that serves elaborate cocktails, especially rum-based mixed drinks such as the Mai Tai and Zombie cocktails. Tiki bars are aesthetically defined by their tiki culture décor which is based upon a rom ...
s (
Trader Vic's
Trader Vic's is a restaurant and tiki bar chain headquartered in Emeryville, California, United States. Victor Jules Bergeron, Jr. (December 10, 1902 in San Francisco – October 11, 1984 in Hillsborough, California) founded a chain of Polynes ...
) in honor of World War II airmen.
See also
References
Notes
Bibliography
*
*
*
* Burney, Allan. ''Flying Boats of World War 2'' (The Aeroplane & Flight Magazine Aviation Archive Series). London: Key Publishing Ltd., 2015. .
* Green, William. ''War Planes of the Second World War, Volume Five: Flying Boats''. London: Macdonald & Co. (Publishers) Ltd., 1962 (Fifth impression 1972). .
* Hoffman, Richard Capt. USN (ret.). ''Consolidated PB2Y Coronado (Naval Fighters 85)''. Simi Valley, California, USA: Ginter Books, 2009. .
*
* Mondey, David. ''The Hamlyn Concise Guide to American Aircraft of World War II''. London: Hamlyn Publishing Group Ltd., 1982 (republished 1996 by the Chancellor Press, reprinted 2002). .
Further reading
*
External links
Consolidated PB2Y Coronado at www.daveswarbirds.com1943 articleincluding photos and cutaway drawing of PB27, starting bottom of page 121
YouTube video of the sole surviving Coronado's restoration being completed and placed on indoor display
{{Authority control
PB2Y
Consolidated PB2Y Coronado
The PB2Y Coronado is a large flying boat Maritime patrol aircraft, patrol bomber designed by Consolidated Aircraft, and used by the US Navy during World War II in bombing, antisubmarine, medical/hospital plane, and transport roles. Obsolete b ...
Flying boats
Four-engined tractor aircraft
High-wing aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1937
Four-engined piston aircraft
Twin-tail aircraft